How many times have I been here in the past eleven years? Too many to count, and I always park in the same place, and always walk around to the front door, but today, today is different.  The side door of Kiss the Cook has a big OPEN sign on it.  I can’t say no to a short cut.

Walking through the door, the checkout area greets me. It is 10 a.m. Having just opened, I am the first and only customer. I have never been here so early.  The past three times I have come by the store, it has been in the middle of a remodel, but today it looks like the work has been done. Everything is shiny and new and organized and stocked to the rafters.

Although I am offered assistance, I just want to nose around.  Kitchen stores and book stores—happy places—they’re my favorite. I can always find something I think I need. A long white rectangular platter catches my eye.  I look at the price $39, not bad.  Hmmm, I must think about it. Continuing on I wander, everything is in a different place. It is like Christmas morning.  If I didn’t already love to cook I might be inspired to give it a try. And as I stumble onto the gourmet food section I realize that if I didn’t know how to cook and didn’t want to give it a try, I could just buy stuff.  I’m excited, I discover Kiss the Cook carries Maldon salt, my favorite finishing salt.

A wall of cookie cutters inspires me to think about being sweet to my grandkids, but then I look up and see the most unique chandelier for a kitchen or casual dining room and I think about being sweet to myself.

Bren Isgitt, the owner comes over and greets me, stopping awhile to show me some of the unique time saving, mind saving, aggravation saving, planet saving products they now stock.

A cherry pitter that really works—that keeps the pits contained—that is rated number one. I’ll take that.

A stain remover that removes an iodine stain before my eyes. I’ll take that too.

An herb stripper.  “I already have one of those—I even gave several to my friends.”

And for the green in me, there is a reusable press and seal cloth. Out goes the plastic wrap.

We haven’t gotten to the Angry Mama yet—dressed in blue with fire red hair—I’m intrigued. Only knowing that the toy doll before me is indeed very angry. I read the directions.

“Remove Angry Mama’s hair and head from body.”

She’ll steam clean my microwave.  No more glass cleaner. I explain to Bren how I accidentally I blew out a $100 screen inside my microwave by spraying glass cleaner too liberally, and I always knew I needed a mother—for so many reasons. I think I want her.

I tell Bren, “The store looks great now—but I loved it before too. What made you decide to take the plunge and redo?”

“It was time,” she said, “our sixteenth anniversary is on October 1.”

With the remodel and reimagined space, Kiss the Cook has exponentially increased their selection. They have sixty new vendors and each vendor has many offerings to tempt me. I start a pile at the cash register and continue exploring. By now other customers fill the aisles.  I overhear one woman say, “You have the loveliest selection. It’s great.”

I’ll second that.

I retrace my footsteps noticing items that I overlooked before. I walk to the back of the store and watch an info commercial about an e-cloth. I’m a skeptic, but I’m curious.  I figure it is worth experimenting with. I add it to the pile at the cash register. Our two-cup measure is broken, I head to the OXO section and I add one of those to my pile. I talk myself into the white platter—obviously, I need it—actually I needed it yesterday! I carry my new treasure to the register.  They are running out of counter space, I think it is time for me to pull out my credit card and be on my merry way.

Leaving Kiss the Cook by the front door, it reminds me of a country cottage—well, I guess it was at one time.  With a yard overflowing with flowers and comfortable seating for bored husbands or weary shoppers, it invites me to linger, to relax—if just for a minute. But the sun is rising in the sky and the end of July days are heating up.  I have things to do and places to go—always busy! Perhaps next time.

A note about some of my purchases from Kiss the Cook

My Angry Mama was just angry enough to clean my microwave with a damp cloth once she did her thing.

My General Purpose e-cloth is a miracle, cleaning my glass topped stove top with a spray of water, leaving no streaks. There was a wall of products the day I went to KTC—I think it deserves a more careful look.

Tony’s Push Button Cherry Pitter pits neatly, completely and efficiently.

And the Professional Grade Chateau Spill Red Wine Stain Remover! NO peroxide, NO chlorine bleach, NO phosphates and 100% biodegradable immediately removed a two-day old stain from my white blouse. It also works on berry stains, make-up, blood and MORE!

The QSQUARED white rectangular platter—obviously I needed it—was one of the best surprises of all. Even after I picked it up I thought it was ceramic, but was told it was a variety of BPA-Free Melamine. It is polished to a high gloss, and durable, and shatterproof. Worrying about carefully storing the platter is no longer a concern—which was my biggest concern while thinking about it.

Kiss the Cook

201 Wimberley Square, Wimberley, Texas 78676

Monday-Saturday 10am – 6pm
Sunday 11am – 5pm

kissthecookwimberley@gmail.com

512-847-1553